Disk device with improved loading mechanism

ABSTRACT

A flexible engagement section  58   e  is provided on a slider rack  58  in order to return a slider lock  70  to an initial position with a slider rack  58  when a disk D (ejection operation period) is being ejected from a turntable. The flexible engagement section  58   e  is pushed towards the slider lock and a cam section  2   a  is formed on the chassis which engages with the engagement section  70   f  of the slider lock  70.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a disk device which loads two types(large and small) of disk onto a turntable of a playing unit (floatingdeck) and which expels (ejects) the disk from the turntable.

PRIOR ART

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a disk device for use in a vehicle. InFIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a disk device, 2 is a chassis(frame) which is disposed in a vehicle, 3 is a playing unit whichrotates said turntable and reads information recorded on the disk Dwhich is mounted on the turntable. 4 is a conveying unit which insertsthe disk D from the disk insertion aperture formed in the chassis intothe chassis, which conveys a disk to the turntable of the playing unit3, which conveys a disk from the top of the turntable to the diskinsertion aperture and which ejects the disk outside the chassis 2. 5 isa flexible member such as an oil damper which prevents the transmissionof vibrations from the vehicle to the playing unit 3 when a disk D isbeing played and which is disposed between the chassis 2 and the playingunit 3.

In the playing unit 3, 11 is a playing unit base which stores a motor orthe like for the purpose of driving the motor or pickup which rotatesturntable. 11 a is a rotation shaft of a pressuring arm (arm clamper)and is provided on the playing unit base 11. 12 is a turntable whichrotates the mounted disk D and which is provided on the playing unitbase 11. 13 is a pressuring arm which rotates about the rotational axis11 a, provided on the playing unit base, in the direction a-b.

14 is a disk clamp which grips the disk D with the turntable 12 byrotating the pressuring arm 13 towards the turntable 12 and which ismounted on the pressuring arm 13. 15 is a pickup which reads informationrecorded on the disk D and which is provided on the playing unit base11.

In the conveying unit 4, 21 is a disk guiding section which is securedonto the upper plate of the chassis 2. 22 is a conveying roller whichgrips the disk D, which is inserted into the chassis 2 from the diskinsertion aperture, with the disk guiding section 21, which conveys thedisk D to the playing unit 3 by rotating in a positive direction whilethe disk D is gripped, which grips a disk which has been conveyed to theplaying unit 3 with the disk guiding section 21 and which conveys a diskD to the disk insertion aperture by rotating in the reverse directionwhile the disk D is gripped and which ejects the disk D outside thechassis.

In FIG. 1, the pressuring arm 13 which is provided on the playing unit 3and the conveying roller 22 which is provided on the conveying unit 4are driven by sliding displacement in the direction of disk ejection anddirection of disk insertion by a cam plate. The fixation and release ofthe playing unit 3 are also performed by a cam plate. These operationsare not shown in the figures and their explanation will be omittedbelow.

The operation will now be explained.

Disk Loading

A disk D which is detected by a disk sensing switch (not shown) isgripped by the disk guiding section 21 and the conveying roller 22 andconveyed to the playing unit 3 by the rotations of the conveying roller22. A disk D which has been conveyed to the playing unit 3 is gripped bythe turntable 12, and the disk damp 14 due to the pressuring armrotating towards the turntable 12 and loaded onto the turntable 12. Atthis time, the conveying roller 22 displaces to a position removed fromthe disk D due to a cam plate (not shown), the fixation of the playingunit base 11 (which had been fixed) is released. The playing unit base11 is supported by the flexible member 5 and the information recorded onthe disk D can be read. That is to say, the disk D is placed into aplayable state.

Disk Playing

The playing of the disk D, which is mounted in a stationary position onthe turntable 12, is initiated by the turntable 12 rotating. Theinformation recorded on the disk D is read by the pickup 15. At thistime, the vibrations of the vehicle are absorbed by the flexible member5 and such vibrations are prevented from being transmitted to theplaying unit 5.

Disk Ejection

When the playing of the disk D is finished, the ejection of the disk Dis initiated when the disk D is gripped by the turntable 12 and the diskdamp 14 when the disk D is in a stationary position on the turntable 12.The pressuring arm 13 rotates in a direction away from the turntable 12.The conveying roller 22 which had been in a position removed from thedisk D displaces back to a position adjacent to the disk D and the diskD is gripped by the disk guiding section 21 and the conveying roller 22.The disk D is conveyed to the disk insertion aperture and ejectedoutside the chassis 2 by the rotations of the conveying roller 22. Atthis time, the playing unit base. 11 is fixed by a cam plate (notshown).

The structure and operation of the disk device for use in a vehicle wasoutlined above. However each component will now be explained in detailbelow.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the horizontal operation of the mechanismof loading the disk D onto a turntable (not shown in FIG. 2) andejecting the disk from the turntable in a conventional disk device. FIG.3 is a lateral view of the right side of FIG. 2. In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3,31 is a lever open member which is supported in the chassis 2 by arotation shaft 32. 33 is a rocker arm which engages long hole 33 a withthe pin 13 e on the pressuring arm 13. An impelling force is provided bythe springs 34 which are provided on both components.

35, 36 are a pair of lever stoppers one end of which is stacked and ispivotally supported by the shaft 37 provided on the pressuring arm 13.38 is a lever rod. 39 is a slider rack (lever trigger).

Arc shaped long holes 13 a, 13 b, 13 c, 13 d are formed on thepressuring arm 13 on the left and right of the axis 37. Pins 35 a, 35 bprovided on the lever stopper 35 engage with the long holes 13 a, 13 b,and pins 36 a, 36 b provided on the lever stopper 36 engage with thelong holes 13 c, 13 d. A lever rod 38 above is mounted on the pin 36 aand the pin 36 b engages with the indentation 38 a. 40 is a spring whichis provided between the lever stoppers 35, 36 so that they arecompressed towards each other. 41 is a spring which compresses one endof the lever rod 38 so that one end of the lever rod is normally pushedin an abutting direction with the slide rack 39. 14 is a disk damp whichis mounted on the pressuring arm 13 so that it is positioned in thecenter of the chassis 2.

The operation will now be explained.

FIG. 4 shows a large diameter (12 cm) as loaded in the disk device. FIG.5 shows the disk device immediately after the switching from thehorizontal operation to the vertical operation due to the insertion of adisk D.

Firstly as shown in FIG. 4, when a disk D is inserted, the disk D isconveyed into the chassis 2 by a conveying roller (not shown). A pin 31a is pushed by the peripheral face of the disk D during the conveyingprocess. The lever open member 31 is rotated in a clockwise directionabout the rotation shaft 32, and the rocker arm 33 is displaced in thedirection of the arrow a by the tip of the projection 31 b.

Due to this displacement, since the engagement of the pin 35 b with theengagement section 33 b is released, the pins 35 a, 35 b displace alongthe long holes 13 a, 13 b and the pins 36 a, 36 b displace along thelong holes 13 c, 13 d. This is due to the pins 35 a, 36 a, 36 b beingpushed by the disk D due to the continuation of the disk D insertion.Thus the lever stoppers 35, 36 rotate transversely about the axis 37.

When the disk D progresses further into the device and is inserted intothe position as shown in FIG. 5, the disk D pushes the slider rack 39 inthe direction of the arrow b by the lever rod 38 which is maximallyrotated through the pin 38 b. Thus switching from horizontal to verticaloperations is completed.

FIG. 6 shows the vertical operation mechanism. In FIG. 6, 40 is a sliderlock, 41 is a arm lock, 42 is a drive shaft which is supported in thechassis, 43, 44 are pinion gears and reduction gears which are mountedon the drive shaft 42, and 45 is a base flap which supports theconveying roller shaft 47 of the disk D.

The slider rack 39 is provided so as to be displaceable in parallelalong the lateral plate of the chassis 2. A rack 39 a is provided on thetip of the slider rack 39 and a return spring 46 is provided on the rearend. The slider lock 40 is integrated so as to be relativelydisplaceable with the slider rack 39 and comprises a rack 40 a which isprovided parallel to the rack 39 a, a hole which has a wide diameter onone side and which performs the releasing and locking of the supportshaft 3 a of the playing unit 3 and an L-shaped cam groove 40 c whichrotates the arm lock 41. A cam 40 d which displaces the pressuring arm13 is provided on the lateral face. A base flap 45 is supported in thechassis 2 so that both ends are rotatable in the shaft 50. A projection45 b supports the conveying roller shaft 47 on the arm 45 and operatesthe slider lock 40 on the lateral face of the arm. 48 is a return springof the base flap 45.

The operation of the vertical operation will now be explained.

When the slider rack 39 is pushed in the direction b of the arrow by theswitching operation from the above horizontal operation to the verticaloperation, the rack 39 a of the slider rack 39 engages with the piniongear 43 during rotation. The slider rack 39 then displaces in the samedirection due to the driving force of the pinion gear 43.

The engaging section 39 b of the slider rack abuts with the engagingsection 40 e of the slider lock 40 due to the displacement of the sliderrack 39. Thus the slider lock 40 displaces together in the samedirection. As a result, the rack 40 a of the slider lock 40 engages withthe pinion gear 43 and displaces thereafter due to the driving force ofthe pinion gear 43. The cam 40 d of the slider lock 40 operates the cam(not shown) of the pressuring arm (arm clamper) 13 due to thedisplacement of the slider lock 40. The pressuring arm 13 rotates in thedirection of sandwiching the disk D.

The pin 41 a of the arm lock 41 is guided upwardly in the figure by thecam groove 40 c due to the continuing displacement of the slider lock40. The arm lock 41 is rotated about the shaft 41 b and the lock of theshaft 3 a of the playing unit (the floating deck) is released.

The cam section 30 c of the tip of the slider rack 39 depresses theprojection 45 a, of the base flap 45 as shown in FIG. 7 due to thedisplacement of the slider rack 39. The base flap 45 rotates in adirection away from the disk D, that is to say, in the direction inwhich the conveying roller 47 moves away from the disk D. The sliderlock 40 operates the disk storage (loading) completion switch (notshown) and disk storage is completed.

Disk Ejection

When the disk is ejected, the pinion gear 43 rotates in the oppositedirection to when the disk is loaded and the slider rack 39 and theslider lock 40 displace in the direction d shown by the broken line. Thebase flap 45 rotates so that the conveying roller operates on the diskD, that is to say, on the disk side by the force of the return springdue to the displacement of the slider rack 39. Thus the gear 47 a of theconveying roller shaft 47 engages with the reduction gears 44.

The arm lock 41 rotates to the position shown in FIG. 6 from theposition shown in FIG. 7 due to the displacement of the slider lock 40and locks the shaft 3 a of the playing unit 3. The operation of the cam40 d of the slider lock 40 is released as the cam (not shown) of thepressuring arm 13 and the pressuring arm is rotated in the direction inwhich the pressuring arm moves away from the disk D.

When the engagement of the racks 39 a, 40 a of the slider rack 39 andthe slider lock 40 with the pinion gear 43 is released, the slider rack39 and the slider lock 40 return to a horizontal operational positionfrom a vertical operational position and move the disk D vertically bythe spring force of the respective return springs 46, 49.

In this way, when the disk D is moved horizontally, the loaded disk D isconveyed in the direction of ejection by the conveying roller 22 whichis driven through the reduction gears 44 and the gears 47 a. When thedisk D displaces to a position shown in FIG. 4 from the position shownin FIG. 5, the peripheral edge of the disk pushes the pin 31 a, thelever open member 31 is rotated in a clockwise direction and the rockerarm 33 is displaced in the direction a of the arrow by the projection 31b on the tip of the lever open member 31.

When the engagement of the pin 35 b with the engagement section 33 b isreleased by this displacement, the lever stoppers 35, 36 are rotated ina direction in which they approach each other due to the force of thespring 85 and return to the state as shown in FIG. 2 together with theejection of the disk D. The lever open member 31 returns to an initialposition due to the spring force of the return spring 31 c when the diskD stops operating on the pin 31 a. As a result, the rocker arm 33 alsoreturns to an initial position as the lever open member 31 is in aninitial position.

FIG. 8 shows the loaded position of a small diameter (8 cm) disk D. Thesmall diameter disk D does not operate at all on the lever open member31. As a result, the rocker arm 33 and the lever stoppers 35, 36 do notoperate. The edge of the inserted disk D directly operates on the pin 38b of the lever rod 38 as shown in FIG. 8 and the lever rod 38 is rotatedin a clockwise direction about the pin 36 a through the pin 36 b. Theslider rack 39 is pushed in the direction of the arrow b by the leverrod 38 and the switching operation from horizontal to verticaloperations is completed. Thereafter the vertical operation is performedas above and the disk loading is complete. Furthermore when the verticaland horizontal operations are performed in a manner opposite to thatabove, the disk ejection operation is complete.

Since in the conventional disk device, as shown above, the slider lockreturns to an initial position due to the return spring during theejection operation, it is sometimes the case that it does not completelyreturn and the disk clamp can not be released. Therefore the problemarises that it is not possible to eject the disk D. Increasing thereturning strength of the spring which returns the slider lock has beensuggested as a solution to this problem. However as a result, a largeforce becomes necessary for the disk loading operation and thus themotor and drive force transmission parts must be increased in size whichresults in increased costs and size of the device. The present inventionis proposed to solve the above problems and has the object of providinga disk device in which a return spring for the slider lock is notnecessary, which eliminates the necessity for some components and whichsimplifies the structure of the device. The disk device of the presentinvention can accurately operate the locking of the playing unit and therelease of the disk clamp. Furthermore according to the presentinvention, a return spring of the slider rack may be provided with asmall spring force.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The disk device of the present invention is provided with a slider rackwhich is driven on the completion of disk loading, a source of drivepower which engages with the rack of the slider rack which drives aslider rack while accumulating a return force in a return spring, aslider lock wherein an engaging section of said slider rack engages witha first engaging section and is driven in the same direction by saidslider rack, and wherein a rack engages with said source of drivingpower and said slider lock is driven together with said slider rack, anarm damper which rotates in the direction in which the disk D issandwiched due to the displacement of the slider lock and which rotatesin the direction in which the disk is released by the slider lockreturning to an initial position, an arm lock which releases the lock ofthe playing unit due to the displacement of said slider lock and whichlocks the playing unit at the return to the initial position of theslider lock, and a base flap which displaces in the direction in whichthe conveying roller of the disk moves away from the disk due to thedisplacement of the slider rack and which abuts the conveying rollerwith the disk by the slider lock returning to an initial position. Onreturning to an initial position, the rack of the slider rack is in aconfiguration in which the engagement with the source of motive powercontinues even after the release of the engagement of the rack of theslider lock and the source of motive power. After the release of theengagement of the rack of the slider lock and the source of motivepower, the flexible engaging section provided on the slider rack ispushed towards the slider lock and is engaged with the second engagingsection of the slider lock. In addition a cam section is formed on thechassis which displaces the slider lock to its an initial position theslider rack above.

As a result of the above arrangement, it is possible to return theslider lock accurately to an initial position by engagement with theslider rack which is driven to an initial position by the source ofmotive power. It is also possible to accurately perform the lockingoperation of the playing unit which is controlled by the slider lock andthe operation of releasing the disk damp. Furthermore the slider rack iscontinuously driven by the source of motive force even after the sliderlock has returned to an initial position. Since the slider rack isreleased from the drive source after the flexible engagement section isseparated from the engagement section of the slider lock, a small springforce may be used to return the slider rack to an initial position.However a return spring for the slider lock is not necessary and thus itis possible to simplify the structure and eliminate a number ofcomponents.

The disk device according to the present invention has a first engagingsection on the slider lock which is formed in a flexible shape.

By such a construction, it is possible to reduce shocks when theengaging section of the slider rack engages and smoothly displace theslider rack and the slider lock.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a disk device for use in a vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a is a plan view of the horizontal operation mechanism whichloads a disk onto a turntable and ejects a disk from the turntable in aconventional disk device.

FIG. 3 is a right-side lateral view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the horizontal operational mechanism when alarge diameter disk is loaded.

FIG. 5 shows the situation immediately after the switching operation dueto insertion of a disk.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the vertical mechanism operation whenswitching from horizontal to vertical operations.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the vertical mechanism operation when diskloading is complete.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the horizontal mechanism operation when a smalldiameter disk is loaded.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the horizontal mechanism operation which loadsthe disk on to the turntable and which ejects the disk from theturntable in a disk device according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a horizontal operational mechanism when alarge diameter disk is loaded.

FIG. 11 is a view of the situation immediately after the switchingoperation due to the insertion of a disk.

FIG. 12 is a left-hand lateral view of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a right-hand lateral view of FIG. 11.

FIG. 14 is a front view of the vertical mechanism operation during theswitching operation.

FIG. 15 is a front view of the vertical mechanism operation during itsoperation.

FIG. 16 is a front view of the vertical mechanism operation atcompletion of disk loading.

FIG. 17 is a front view of the vertical mechanism operation during itsoperation in the direction of disk ejection.

FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view of the vertical mechanismoperation.

FIG. 19 is a plan view of the horizontal mechanism operation when asmall diameter disk is loaded.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In order to explain the present invention in more detail, the preferredembodiments will be explained with reference to the accompanyingfigures.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the horizontal operational mechanism whichloads the disk on to the turntable and which ejects the disk from theturntable in a disk device according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention. In FIG. 9, 51 is a lever open member, 52 is a clamp,53 is a clamp cap which mounts the clamp 52, 54 is a slider stop, 55 isa arm clamper, 56 is a lever stopper, 57 is a cam stopper, 58 is aslider rack, 59 is a hook stopper.

The central section of the lever open member 51 above is supported by ashaft by the chassis so as to be freely rotatable. A pin 51 a isprovided on one end which abuts with the disk edge and a projection 51 bis provided on the other end. The slider stopper 54 has pins 54 a, 54 aon both left and right end corners with which the disk D abuts. Theslider stopper is supported so as to be freely displaceable along thelong hole 55 a, which is provided in the direction of disk ejection inthe arm damper 55 by the engaging section 54 c provided in the center.The lever stopper 56 and the cam stopper 57 are supported in relativerotation by the hook stopper 59. The lever stopper 56 is engaged withthe engaging section 54c of the slider stopper 54 by the long hole 56 awhich is provided at one end.

On one face of the cam stopper 57, apart from the long hole 57 whichpasses through the hook stopper 59, a pin 57 b is provided which engageswith the engaging hole 55 b of the arm damper 55. In addition a pin 57 cis provided which engages with the engaging hole 56 b of the leverstopper 56. On the another face of the cam stopper 57, there is a pin 57d which abuts with the disk D. 60 is a. spring which is provided betweenthe arm damper 55 and the cam stopper 57. The direction in which thespring 60 is compressed with respect to the cam stopper 57 is reversedby the cam stopper 57 rotating, and the mounting point 56 e of thespring 60 exceeding the line 61 connecting the mounting point 55 c ofthe spring 60 of the arm damper 55 and the hook stopper 59. 62 is aspring provided between the arm damper 55 and the cam stopper 57 so thata rotational force in a clockwise direction is given to the cam stopper57.

The operation of the invention will be explained below.

FIG. 10 shows a large diameter (12 cm) disk as loaded. FIG. 11 is a viewof the situation immediately after the switching operation due to theinsertion of a disk. FIG. 12 is a left-hand lateral view of FIG. 11.FIG. 13 is a right-hand lateral view.

Firstly as shown in FIG. 10, when a disk D is inserted, the pin 51 a ispushed by the edge of the disk D, the lever open member 51 is rotated inan anti-clockwise direction, and the cam stopper 57 is displaced in thedirection c of the arrow by the projection 51 b on the tip of the leveropen member 51. As a result of this displacement, the engagement of thepin 57 c in the cam stopper 57 and the engaging hole wall of the leverstopper 56 is released and the slider stop 54 is displaced in thedirection of disk D loading by being pushed by the disk D. Even if thelever stop 56 rotates, that rotational force is not transmitted to thecam stopper 57. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the disk D is loadedup to a fixed position, and presses directly on the pin 57 d. Thus dueto the fact that the cam stopper 57 is rotated, the slider rack 58 ispushed in the direction b of the arrow by the rotated cam stopper 57 andthe switching operation from horizontal to vertical operations iscompleted.

FIG. 14 is a view of the vertical operational mechanism. In FIG. 14, 70is a slider lock, 71 is a arm lock, 72 is a drive shaft which issupported in the chassis 2, 73, 74 are pinion gears and reduction gearswhich are mounted on the drive shaft 72, and 75 is base flap whichsupports the conveying roller 77 of the disk D.

As shown by the exploded perspective view in FIG. 18, the slider rack 58above is provided so as to be displaceable in parallel along the lateralplate of the chassis 2. A rack 58 a is provided on the distal end and areturn spring 78 on the rear end. In addition, the slider rack 58 has anengaging section 58 b, an engaging section 58 c and a flexible engagingsection 58 e which is provided on the arm 58 d which projects laterally.The slider lock 70 is integrated with the slider lock 58 so as to berelatively displaceable. The slider lock 70 has a rack 70 a provided inparallel with the rack 58 a, a hole 70 b, one side of which has a largediameter which locks and releases the support shaft of the playing unit,and an L-shaped cam groove 70 c which rotates the arm lock 71. On thelateral face of the slider lock 70, there is cam 70 d which displaces anarm damper 55. On the upper face, there is a flexible engagement section70 e which operates on the engagement section 58 b of the slider rack 58and an engagement section 70 f which operates on the flexible engagementsection 58 e of the slider rack 58.

Both ends of the base flap 75 are supported in the chassis 2 in a freelyrotatable state by the shaft 79. An engaging section 75 b which supportsthe conveying roller shaft 77 with the arm 75 a, and which operates onthe engaging section 58 c of the slider rack 58 on the lateral face ofthe arm is provided. 80 is a return spring of the base flap 75.

The operation of the vertical operation will be explained below.

When the slider rack 58 is pushed in direction b by the switching from ahorizontal operation to a vertical operation as explained above, therack 58 a of the slider rack 58 engages with the pinion gear 74 during.rotation. The slider rack 58 displaces in the same direction due to thedrive force of the pinion gear 73.

While the slider rack 58 is displacing, the engaging section 58 b of theslider rack abuts with the flexible engaging section 70 e of the sliderlock 70 and displaces together with the slider lock 70. As a result, therack 70 a of the slider lock 70 also engages with the pinion gear 73 andthereafter displaces by the drive force of the pinion gear 73. The cam70 d of the slider lock 70 operates on the cam 55 d of the arm damper55FIG. 13) due to the displacement of the slider lock 70. Thus the armdamper 55 rotates in the direction in which the disk is sandwiched.

The pin 71 a of the arm lock 71 is guided upwardly by the L-shaped camgroove 70 c due to the continuing displacement of the slider lock 70.The arm lock 71 is rotated about the shaft 81 and as shown in FIG. 16,the lock of the support shaft of the playing unit (floating deck) isreleased.

On the other hand, when the engaging section 58 c of the tip of theslider rack 58 depresses the -engaging section 75 b of the base flap 75due to the displacement of the slider rack 39, the base flap 75 rotatesin a direction away from the disk D, that is to say, in a direction inwhich the conveying roller 82 displaces away from the disk D.Subsequently the disk loading procedure is completed when the sliderlock 70 operates the disk loading completion switch (not shown).

Disk Ejection

When a disk is ejected, the pinion gear 73 rotates in an oppositedirection to that when the disk device is loaded and the slider rack 58and the slider lock 70 displace in the direction d of the arrow. Due tothe displacement of the slider rack 58, the base flap 75 rotates so asto operate on the side of the disk with the force of the return spring80, that is to say, so that the conveying roller 82 operates on the diskD. Furthermore the arm lock 71 rotates from the position in FIG. 16 tothe position in FIG. 15 due to the displacement of the slider lock 70.The shaft 3 a of the playing unit 3 is locked and the operation of thecam 70 d of the slider lock 70 with respect to the cam 55 d of the armdamper is released and the arm damper 55 rotates in a direction in whichit separates from the disk.

When the engagement of the rack 70 a of the slider lock 70 with thepinion gear 73 is released, as shown in FIG. 17, the flexible engagingsection 58 e of the slider rack 58 is pushed outwardly towards theslider lock 70 by the cam section 2 a of the chassis 2 and engages withthe engaging section 70 f of the slider lock 70. Thus the slider lock 70is displaced to an initial position (position of ejection). When theslider lock 70 has returned to an initial position, the cam section 2 aon the chassis with respect to the flexible engagement section 58 e isno longer necessary. The flexible engagement section 58 e of the sliderrack 58 returns towards chassis and the engagement with the slider lock70 is released. Thereafter the engagement of the rack 58 a of the sliderrack 58 and the pinion gear 73 is released, the slider rack 58 returnsto an eject position due to the spring force of the return spring 78 andthe switching from vertical to horizontal operations is completed.

As shown above, when moving to horizontal operations, the loaded disk Dis conveyed in an ejecting direction by the conveying roller 82. Asshown in FIG. 10, when the disk D moves in an ejecting direction, theedge of the disk D pushes the pin 51 a and rotates the lever open member51 in an anti-clockwise direction. Thus the cam stopper 57 is moved indirection c of the arrow by the projection on the tip of the lever openmember 51. As a result of this movement, the engagement of the pin 57 aof the cam stopper 57 and the edge of the engagement hole 56 b of thelever stopper 56 is released. The slider stop 54 follows the movement inthe direction of ejection of the disk due to the force of the spring 60.The lever stopper 56 also rotates and returns to an initial position asshown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 19 shows the switching operation of loading a small diameter (8 cm)disk D. The small diameter disk D does not operate at all on the leveropen member 51 during insertion or ejection and so the engaged positionof the pin 57 a of the cam stopper 57 and the edge of the engagementhole 56 b of the lever stopper 56 is maintained. In this state, the pins54 a, 54 a of the slider stopper 54 are pushed by the disk as the disk Dis loaded and move in a loading direction. The lever stopper 56 isrotated in a clockwise direction by this movement and engages with thelever stopper 56. The slider rack 58 is pushed to a fixed position bythe cam stopper 57 which is rotating together and the switchingoperation from horizontal to vertical operations is completed.

Disk loading is completed by the vertical operations of FIGS. 14-16.Furthermore since the ejection of a disk is performed by the operationsshown in FIGS. 11 through FIG. 9 and FIG. 17, it is the same as thatdescribed above and will not be explained again here.

As shown above according to Embodiment 1, it is possible for the sliderlock to accurately return to an initial position due to the engagementof a slider rack, which is driven by a motive source from a disk loadingposition to an initial position. Thus a return spring for the sliderlock becomes unnecessary. The number of components and costs are alsoreduced. Furthermore it is possible to accurately perform the releaseoperation of the disk damp and the locking operation of the playing unitwhich is controlled by the slider lock by returning the slider lock toan initial position. Furthermore since the slider rack continues to bedriven by the source of motive power even after the slider lock hasreturned to an initial position, and is released from the source ofmotive power after the engagement with the slider lock is released, thespring force which returns the slider rack to an initial position needonly be small.

Furthermore since the first engaging section of the slider lock isflexible, when the engagement section of the slider rack is engaged, itis possible to reduce shocks and smoothly displace the slider rack andslider lock.

Industrial Applicability

As shown above, the disk device of the present invention is adapted foruse as a disk device for use in a vehicle which can employ disks of twovarying sizes.

What is claimed is:
 1. A disk device comprising: a slider rack which is driven upon completion of disk loading, a source of drive power which engages with said slider rack and which drives said slider rack while accumulating a return force in a return spring, a slider lock having a first engaging section, wherein an engaging section of said slider rack engages with the first engaging section so that said slider lock is driven by said slider rack so as to engage with said source of drive power so as to be driven together with said slider rack, an arm damper which rotates in a first direction in which the disk D is sandwiched due to the displacement of said slider lock and which rotates in a second direction in which the disk is released at the return to an initial position by said slider lock, an arm lock, which releases and locks a playing unit due to the displacement of said slider lock, wherein said arm lock locks the playing unit at the slider lock's return to an initial position, and a base flap which displaces in a third direction such that a disk conveying roller attached thereto moves away form the disk due to the displacement of said slider rack, wherein when said base flap moves in a direction opposite said third direction, said disk conveying roller abuts with the disk on the return to an initial position by said slider rack and wherein said slider rack, on returning to an initial position, is in a configuration in which the engagement with said source of drive power is continued even after the release of the engagement between the slider lock and the source of drive power, and further wherein after the release of the engagement between said slider lock and said source of drive power, a flexible engaging section provided on said slider rack is pushed towards said slider lock and is engaged with a second engaging section of said slider lock, and further wherein a cam section on a chassis displaces said slider lock to an initial position with said slider rack.
 2. A disk device according to claim 1 wherein said first engagement section of said slider lock is formed in a flexible shape. 